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Whether he’s unleashing a one-timer reminiscent of a young Mike Bossy, or throwing soft, aimless passes across his own zone to nobody in particular, Nail Yakupov is never boring.

His bullet to tie it in Chicago Monday night was All World. The mind-boggling giveaway in the second period of the same game was straight out of junior.

“My bad,” shrugged the Russian rookie , who’s contending for the Oilers lead in goals (6G-5A), as well as for the worst plus minus (-9) on the Oilers.

“He’s a big, exciting project,” head coach Ralph Krueger said of the best shot on the team. “We’re all watching Yak grow up in front of our eyes.”

That you sometimes have to shield those eyes when he’s out there is all part of the process. Too gifted to sit when the Oilers need a goal and sometimes too dangerous to play when they can’t afford to give one up, finding Yakupov ice time is a daily puzzle in a league where almost every game is decided by one goal.

Play him in the top six and guys like the Sedins might eat him up. Play him in the bottom six and his linemates can’t complement his skills.

He played just nine minutes in the Chicago game, long enough to make a significant impact.

“He misses his ice-time in certain stretches,” said Krueger. “But I tapped him on the shoulder with eight minutes left and said, ‘If you’re not going playing here, watch every shift, pick a player, let’s learn and let’s grow.’”

Learning not to toss hand grenades is one of the things they’re working on.

“The guys help me with that,” said the coach. “When he came to the bench after that one (in Chicago), Gagner was sitting beside him said ‘Relax Nail, relax, just learn from that.’ Guys are helping me. Everybody understands. We’ve had years with three or four projects, we’re used to it. If we have one, it’s a little bit easier.”

When a player has something that cannot be taught, as Yakupov does, it’s wise to show patience in helping him with things that can. You can teach a chimp to back check, but putting a puck under the crossbar before the goalie even knows who shot it is special.

So the lessons continue, Gently.

“The NHL is a much different game,” said the 19-year-old. “But the players, the coaches, everybody is helping me on the bench, telling me the right things.”

Because if he becomes a complete enough player to log 18 minutes a night, he’ll be scary.

“We left him alone the first 10 or 12 games, but were starting to get him accustomed to video,” added Krueger. “We didn’t want to do that in the beginning, we just kind of let him go a lot because there were enough other things. But now, every game we’re trying to find four or five clips, positive and corrections, where he can start structuring his game a little bit more.

“He’s still looking for a way to break his skill into this group. But if you’re willing, you’re going to learn, and he is. He’s very coachable.”

Edmonton Oilers working to turn Nail Yakupov into complete NHLer

Whether he’s unleashing a one-timer reminiscent of a young Mike Bossy, or throwing soft, aimless passes across his own zone to nobody in particular, Nail Yakupov is never boring.

His bullet to tie it in Chicago Monday night was All World. The mind-boggling giveaway in the second period of the same game was straight out of junior.

“My bad,” shrugged the Russian rookie, who’s contending for the Oilers lead in goals (6), as well as for the worst plus minus (-9) on the Oilers.

“He’s a big, exciting project,” head coach Ralph Krueger said of the best shot on the team. “We’re all watching Yak grow up in front of our eyes.”

That you sometimes have to shield those eyes when he’s out there is all part of the process. Too gifted to sit when the Oilers need a goal and sometimes too dangerous to play when they can’t afford to give one up, finding Yakupov ice time is a daily puzzle in a league where almost every game is decided by one goal.